A Strike of Lighting
by The Midday Moon
Summary: Natalie is like any other high school student. She hates school, she has a few friends, and all she ever feels like doing is going to sleep. She is completely normal except for the disturbing dreams that plague her sleep almost every night. Soon she'll find out that every thing can change with a strike of lighting.
1. Chapter 1

One more day. Just one more miserable hormone filled day, Nat. Then you'll be free for a solid week. For about the trillionth time I reminded myself of this fact as I sat down into my regular seat in sixth block English. Slowly the room started to fill with familiar faces , all chattering away about their Autumn break plans. Ugh, and for some reason they were all being more obnoxious than usual today. Hannah Lolley screamed as one of her "guy friends" ran up behind her and started poking in her in her ribs and then ran off with her bag. Then there was Chris and Jared sitting across me in the next row of desks, talking about all the different methods of ingesting a pill. Highschool: Don't you just love it?

The bell rang for silence and everyone began to take their seats. I turned my mind on the "ignore everything" setting when a few moments later one of my closest friends came bounding into the door. Chasity looked around to make sure the coast was clear of Mrs. Corne , the naggy, lecturing English teacher. She smiled with delight to see that Mrs. Corne was as tardy as herself. She took her place behind my desk and slammed her books underneath her seat. I turned around in my seat to start chastising the little blonde about her arrival.

"I'm so sorry Nat!" I know I promised I'd never been late again but I just couldn't help it! Jess pulled me in the hallway and said someone was probably getting the boot today in practice and then I went to my locker and Adrian cornered me and begged to go break up with his girlfriend for him and well now I'm here." Before I could even open my mouth she had already spewed an apology and told me where she had been in the last five minutes. She amazed me sometimes.

"You forgive me?" She continued with her baby blues gleaming at me . I rolled my hazel ones and nodded. " Of course." I was about to go on when Mrs. Corne came in.

"Hello my darlings!" She greeted in her usual exuberant fashion . "I know tomorrow is the beginning of break and you'll more than likely forget everything that I tell you today, but I'm sorry to tell you that I'm teaching you any way." Several students groaned with agony at the news. Most teachers had spared them this fate but not Mrs. Corne ,of course. I sighed and leaned back in my chair preparing myself for one of her infamous speeches. I heard Chas sigh and then felt her fingers going through my chocolate mane. It was just another day at Olkton highschool.

"As most of you know when we come back from break we will start into our Greek Tragedies section. You should know most of them already so it probably won't take us too long. Today we will just be reviewing some of the ones you learned already." She picked up her blue podium and set it in front of the class. She nudged her glasses onto her oddly shaped nose and began her speech. " Who remembers Oedipus Rex?"

One of the idiots in the back yelled out " The mother lover?" The class burst out laughing at his interruption.

"Very good Jeremy! That's right." Mrs. Corne said congratulating with hint of disbelief in her voice. "Now who remembers Narcissus?"

The class fell silent again as Mrs. Corne started to go through some of the disturbing themes in the tragedies. There was mother lovers, self lovers, animal lovers and just plain out weirdos. I held back another sigh. So this what we'll be learning about for a solid week? Joy.

Chasity continued brushing my hair with her fingers. Usually she would make small braided patterns through my shiny locks, but not today. Today she was simply brushing.

My eyes were becoming more heavy with each brush. I wanted to sleep badly and God knows I needed the rest. I had been up since three A.M this morning because of another stupid nightmare. I had the nightmares before but they were never this strong and I would ,for the most part, just get up,splash water in my face and then go right back to sleep but not last night.

Last night was just miserable. I took my shower and brushed my teeth and then went to sleep in my warm king bed with all my pillows gathered close around my body like normal. I was really tired because of the drills Ms. Haze, my dance teacher, had made me do,so sleep came easily. My dreams had been black and dull for awhile until there was a sudden vision.

I stood in a enormous room with white marble arches all around me. I stood in the center of a circle. All of the sudden the room began to shake wildly. The arches began to break under the pressure of the tremors and stone began to fall. My heart was beating fast and I could hardly breathe. A huge block fell inches away from me. Some how I knew I was going to die here. I stared at the chaos, unable to move. Suddenly my body was jerked around and I faced a tall man. His face showed the apparent signs of stress and worry as little pieces of black curly hair fell in his face. I looked into his eyes not expecting to see anything but a blurry color since this was a dream, but I saw them so clearly they still haunt me. They were gray like storm clouds and fierce and opened all the way. For a moment I thought I saw a streak of blue.

"Listen to me!" He commanded in a strong urgent voice while holding my arms with a tight grip. "You will die from the fall but it is only a mortal death and you will come back from amongst the dead and return as a human. The pain you feel will only be brief, and when you go into your human shell you will not remember any of it."  
I felt my chest heave with sobs as I began to cry. "What of you?" I heard a voice say. It sounded close enough to be my own.

The man's eyes gave a look of pain. "I shall be like you, but on the river Styx I swear that I will find you again, mortal or not, and you shall return to your rightful place beside me."

With all the strength left in him he embraced me. I smelt fresh rain on him.

"I love you." He whispered. Then I was falling. Falling away from everything. Falling from the room, the man, and life its self. I looked down to see where I was going through the black clouds that surrounded me.

I felt the ocean engulfing me in it's savage body. Salt rushed into my nose and eyes and the water was quick to get into my lungs. Huge blocks were being lifted onto my chest and I was falling fast. I tried to heave in air but nothing but water greeted me. I stretched out my arms and felt the sand of the ocean floor. "Only brief..." a voice whispered somewhere. "Only brief..."

I woke up nice and sweaty and scared out of my mind. I tried to wash the dream out of my eyes with cold water like all the other times the nightmares woke me but I couldn't erase the sights scarred into my memory or shake the drowning feeling away from my body. I was breathing too heavy and my heart was going too fast. I went onto other calming methods like breathing in and out deeply for a few minutes and taking a hot shower but nothing worked. I gave up around four and finally turned on my lamp and began to finish some homework, hoping desperately that AP Trig would heal me of my sudden ailments.

Now I'm dead tired and the only thing in the world that would make me happy right now is a nice fluffy pillow. On the bright side, I got all my homework finished.

My eyes had only closed for a second when I was awoken by a loud voice. " Ms. Hemmington, would you care to tell us which goddess cursed the nymph Echo." I looked up tiredly from my desk to see Mrs. Corne's eyes glued to me from her bright blue podium. Her pupils were so huge, they made her eyes look almost black. This meant only one thing: some one was in trouble.

I tried not groan or give her an evil look .I hate it when teachers do this. When they ask you stupid questions to make sure your listening, it's kind of annoying. I sat up straight and thought for a moment, my mind trying to scan all the myths at once. The names were all a blur but I managed to pick one. "Hera."

Mrs. Corne frowned a little bit. "That is correct, but next time try to stay awake for the actual story okay?"

I nodded. She was just mad that I got the answer right.

Mrs. Corne opened her mouth again to speak but the bell replaced her voice.

Had it really been forty- five minutes already? I had slept longer than intended.

"Have a nice break everyone." Mrs. Corne said dismissing class. I grabbed my stuff and headed for my locker.

I pushed through the horde of teenagers usually blocking my locker and jammed my key into the lock. I tossed my books in and was about to slam the door shut until I noticed my gym bag half shoved/half hanging on the hook in my locker. Crap it was dance day. I was about to start banging my head into the locker. "All I want to do is go home." I mumbled angrily. Instead of getting to go home as planned I had to go to another long, boring, sweaty, dance practice in the gym with my PMS-y dance coach.

I was considering all the positives of banging my head into a locker when Chasity popped up beside me from the crowd. "Hey are you coming to practice?"

I looked her over to see she already had her gym bag hanging off her shoulder and her clothes in place, complete with a high pony tail. I sighed and yanked my bag out of the black hole I called a locker. "Of course."

"Good, because between you and me I don't want to be left alone with Katie again. That whole story about her getting some new birth control put in her arm freaked me out yesterday."

I couldn't help but laugh. Poor Chasity got paired off with freakishly tall, talkative Katie yesterday and obviously Katie opened her mouth to talk about another one of her odd stories from the Doc's office. Chasity had been describing all the horrors of the conversation since this morning.

I slung the bag onto my shoulder and began to walk in the direction of the closest girls' bathroom to change. Chasity followed close behind talking about all the high lights of her day from her annoying teachers to the juiciest gossip.

"Did you know Jacob was going to have his party this Saturday but then his parents found some stuff in his room?"She said as we crossed the threshold into the bathroom.

I wasn't really surprised . Jacob seemed like he would experiment a little with drugs, but just for Chas's sake I feigned interest. " Really? I thought he was one of the good kids!"

Her blues were popping out of her head. "I know right! He's so sweet too!"

Knowing how much Chasisty idolized the boy I tried to offer her some sympathy. "Maybe they weren't his." I offered.

She stopped at the mirror to make sure her appearance was still decent. "They couldn't be Nat! He's too good for that crap! Maybe he was trying to throw it away for a friend or something!"

"Maybe." I mumbled closing the stall door behind me. I slid the metal piece into place and hung up my bag. I started yanking off my clothes ready to change into the much more comfortable shorts and tank top in my bag.

Seconds passed in silence. Chasity must have been putting on some gloss. It was about the only time she would shut up. I stuffed my clothes into the bag and slipped on my tennis shoes. I opened the door again.

"So who do you think's getting the boot today?" I asked recalling her previous gossip.

Chas smooshed her shimmery pink lips together and then shrugged. "I don't know but I kind of hope it's Katie."

I was shocked, usually she wasn't this mean. "Chas!"

"What?It's the truth, that weirdo just needs to go."

"You're mean today."

Chas smiled at the comment. "I woke up like this. Now, hurry up and put your hair up so we can go. It stinks in here."

I brushed back all my hair and tied it with a hair tie. I slung my bag back over my shoulder and with Chas walking next to me, I gradually made it to the gym.

Today wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was still extremely sweaty but Ms. Haze wasn't as bitchy as usual. In fact she was in a pretty good mood. Chas had whispered something about her finally getting laid. Wow, maybe she did wake up mean this morning.

Turns out she was wrong about someone get the slip though. I guess Ms. Haze was just too happy to do so.

Practice had been over for about ten minutes so the locker room wasn't crowded with screaming girls. There was only a group of three standing by the door and me and Chas. Chas was vigourously drying her hair with a towel. She had already took her shower and changed back into regular clothes. Really the only one in the room who still had their gym clothes on was me. Besides me being naturally slow at changing, I was waiting for them to all leave so I could hit the shower. I wasn not going home sweaty and was not getting completley naked in front of them. I didn't care if they were girls or not. I was taking shower alone.

Chas threw the wet towel into her bag and zipped in up again. "Well I got to go. If I come home later than seven my mom jumps me."

"Be careful."

She gave a huge stretch and began walking out the door. "Of course, but I think I can at least hit seventy before I start to swerve. I'm a pro at these roads."

I smiled at her sarcasm. Chas is a horrible driver. There was hardly any curves in the roads of Olkton but with her special abilities she could wreck on any of them. I remeber her turning into the wrong side of the road once and she just kept on driving like that until she saw a car coming. From that day on I promised myself I would never get in a car with her again.

Shortly after she had left the group by the door left aswell. Now was my chance. I stripped off my dirty clothes and tossed them on the bench. I grabbed my soap and got in the shower. Usually I hated getting in the locker room showers because they're so dirty but today I needed a good scrub. I turned the heat up and let the smell of my vanilla body wash take over my senses.

I stood there for about another ten minutes and then I got out. I put the clothes that I had worn today back on and towel dried my hair like Chas. I was too lazy to whip out my blow dryer.

I walked slowly outside back into the gym but no one was there of course. It was a short walk to the parking lot. Before I walked through I noticed it was raining. Great, just great. My car was going to hate me today. I covered my head with my jacket and ran for the little yellow bug.

I unlocked it quickly and crash landed into the driver side. I slammed the door and tried to put the key in the ignition. The old yellow bug stuttered alive. I sighed with relieve. Maybe I could actually get home tonight.

Like the gym the roads were pretty clear, probably because of the rain. Everything was pretty calm until a few streets later I heard that dreaded sound. Thunder. Then my poor car began to die. I moved it over to the side of the road. Then it died.

I was so used to doing this that I wasn't even worried. I yanked the key out and then stuffed it back in. I turned the key over to only heard the sound of stuttering. "Come on, Come on!" I hissed. I just wanted to get back home and sleep. I tried again and then there was no sound at all.

Now I was worried.

I put my jacket back over my head and kicked open my door. I checked under the hood at the back to see if the engine was alright and it looked fine . I tried starting again but of course nothing. I wanted to scream. I dug my phone out of my bag and tried calling my dad. I waited for a few minutes until I noticed there was no dial tone. Great my phone was dead too.

I slammed the hood shut and just stood there in the pouring rain without my jacket not caring at all how wet I got. At this moment I didn't care if I got some infection from standing out here. I just wanted to curl up in a little angry ball and die.

The thunder roared again. "Screw you!" I screamed back. It was the thunder's fault. Everything was the thunder's fault. "I just want to die!" I mumbled.

Then I noticed a strange electric blue light shooting across the sky. I hardly had anytime to realize what it was when my heart began to go crazy. It's just like the dream, I thought. I struggled to breath.

The lightning cracked again and then , like the dream, I was falling.

A/N (Sighs) It has been a long time since I've written. About a year I think. Words can not even truly describe how much I want to get back into this world. I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed and tell me all the pros and cons of my writing, and if I should even continue at all. Much thanks! :)


	2. Chapter 2

My body swung back and forth gently with a strange warmness, my eyes were blinded with a peaceful whiteness, and my ears were greeted with a pleasant humming.

The humming sounded like my nana's voice. It hummed her favorite song from church, "The Old Rugged Cross,"I think it was called. I remember going to church with her sometimes and she would always get up and try to get me to sing with her. She loved the hymn so much she would hum it at random. When I got sick she would take me in her arms and sit and rock me for what seemed like hours, just humming away. I would have believed I was a kid again sitting in her lap in the old rocking chair if it wasn't for a few painful facts. Nana was dead. She died when I was ten, with breast cancer, and I would never be a child again.

It's a dream, I thought.

I should have frozen with fear, but this dream was so welcoming ,and nothing bad could happen with Nana around. I relaxed. Then the white was replaced by black.

.

More light greeted me when I opened my eyes for the second time. Unlike the first time it was soft and gentle like sunlight. I stared up at a massive white marble ceiling. It didn't even have any designs sculpted into it, but it was still incredibly amazing with it's small black veins. I wondered if it was real because it looked nothing like my kitchen counters at home. My counter tops were probably the fake ones though.

I stopped staring at the ceiling long enough to notice the rest of the room.

The walls were bare with same marble as the ceiling and the only piece of furniture I saw was the giant bed , which I realized I was laying in.

I sat up quickly . What a mistake that was!

My head began to pulse with a massive headache. It was like a boxer was inside my head and my brain was his punching bag. Then my eyes began to burn like I just threw them in a fire.

"F!" I screamed, slapping my hands over my eyes. This was probably one of the worst pains I've ever felt in my entire life.

I waited for a few seconds in misery and then suddenly the pain was gone. I opened my eye carefully waiting for the possible backlash. I sighed with relief to find none.

I looked the room over again.

I looked to my right to see four matching, marble, columns standing tall. In between them the sun shined brightly at me . I heard the sounds of birds chirping and that weird tinkling that water makes .

It was the outside .

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed cautiously , in case of more pains. The silk sheets I had been covered in left my body in rush. Wait, silk sheets?

I hardly stopped to think about it, when I reached to one of the spaces in between the columns. The sun blinded me for a moment and then with a humongous gasp I took it all in.

Grass was everywhere and and it was so green it was nearly neon! There was trees lining the perimeter of the garden, and there was flowers pouring out from everywhere . In the center of it all, there was a beautiful fountain lined with statues of maidens pouring water into the bottom. It looked like something I'd saw at art museum once.

I recalled the field trip with a shudder, thinking about all the perverted comments some boys made about the lack of clothing the girls had over their chests. Then the same boys went to the gift shop and bought all the mini statues of them and I was forced to sit the entire way back to Olkton listening to the odd comments about nipples and getting plastics boobs shoved in my face for inspection , with the question "Are yours like that?"

I rubbed my eyes to get rid of that painful memory.

I looked back to the scenery. I nearly peed in my pants when I saw something moving right by the fountain. It was extremely colorful with it's bright blue feathers. It's tail dragged slightly against the ground. It strutted gracefully across the grass. Even though I had never seen one up close I knew exactly what it was. A peacock. A real live peacock.

I stared at it for what seemed like forever until my mind was too flabbergasted to look any longer.

This had to be a dream. Where else would I find a huge bed with silk sheets and a real peacock?It must be symbolic to something, I thought. Like my huge need for expensive sleeping pills.

When I woke up I was definitely going to the doctor's office.

My mind was scanning all the possible pills I could take for these lucid dreams when suddenly I felt a disturbing breeze right there on my boobs.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I screamed.

I looked down in horror to see the pale space in between my small breasts. Thankfully you couldn't see the real goods since they were covered by some dark purple fabric, but the fabric was extremely thin and light. If a stronger wind blew I would definitely be naked since the rest of my body was covered in it, all the way to the floor. It seemed to be fashioned into a dress of sorts. I silently thanked God that only cleavage was showing. It was too much though . All of this was too much.

"Are we having issues?" For the second time I nearly peed my pants or well, dress I guess. I wasn't expecting a voice to answer back.

I looked back into the bedroom to see a tall man. He had wavy , sandy, brown hair and he was amazingly fit. He had the body of an Olympic medalist complete with the muscleliest legs and arms you have ever seen.

It was safe to say I ogled him.

"Are we having issues?" He repeated more slowly with a cautious stare towards me.

I swallowed all the drool that was forming in my mouth. "Um yes, would you care to tell me where we are are, and what the crap am I wearing?"

He smiled a bit .

I nearly fainted. He was so hot. Way hotter than any of the guys in Olkton by far.

"Call me Hermes, and we're in a place called Olympus. As for your clothing, it's just a simple dress. Do you not like it?"

I nearly choked on my own saliva. It sounded like he said his name was Herpes and that we were in some place called Olympus. This had to be a dream.

I coughed and cleared my throat.

"Excuse me?"

He shook his head and continued to smile.

" You must have been hit pretty badly."

Hit? What the hell was he talking about? I shook my head.

"What?"

The smiled stayed glued to his face.

"You , Natalie Hemmington, are in Olymlpus , my name is Hermes son of the almighty Zeus, and you are in a dress."

He repeated it all very slowly like he was talking to a child. It got under my skin. No one ever talked to me like that!

"I'm not dumb ass hole!"

He bowed his head a little but continued to wear that awful smirk on his face.

"I apologize for my tone your grace , but I had to get my point across somehow. I can't exactly raise my voice to a queen."

Queen? W... T...F! What the heck was going on?

This had to be a dream. A stupid , retarded beyond belief, dream! I must have taken some kind of cold medicine medicine before going to bed. But I didn't remember going to bed, or having a cold. Oh well I wasn't going to listen to Herpes or whatever his name was for much longer.

"Listen dude, I don't know you and I don't care to ! I would just like to wake up and magically be back in my real bed at home. Then get up and go to the doctor's office immediately. So if you could just scare really good that would help."

The smile disappeared from his face. His eyes looked serious now.

"I'm afraid it's not the simple , Natalie."

Gir, how hard was it to wake some one up?

"Why?"

Hermes continued with same serious look. He gestured to the huge bed I found myself in earlier.

"Please sit down."

I didn't question him this time. I crossed the short distance between the columns and the bed and sat on it with a kerplunk!

I hardly moved since I had been in this dream, but I felt exhausted all of the sudden.

Hermes remained standing but came a little closer to the bed and held on to the post nearest to me.  
"What I'm about to tell you is no laughing matter and I need you to believe it as best you can. Do you understand?"

For some reason, I found myself nodding to him.

He took in a deep breath.

"A long time ago people believed in numerous gods. I'm sure you've heard about this is your history class."

I nodded remembering the short discussion in World History from our bible thumping teacher, Mr. Chayse, about all the weird messed up religions of ancient times. He said they were all full of bologna and the people were as dumb as rocks and couldn't do anything. He would have jumped into a lecture about how the one true God made us all smart and continued with all his Christian B.S. If the school hadn't already called him out on it before.

"Well, some of them were never even real , but others were as alive as you are."

Well duh, I thought. It's because some of them were people. That was one of Mr. Chayse's key points in proving their dumbness. I didn't tell Hermes that, though. I simply nodded for him to continue his speech.

He came closer and stared me down.

"Their human bodies all died , but not there souls. There souls came back and now they live among the average citizens." He paused to look at my reaction.

I could help but smile. This was ridiculous. Hermes was clearly off his rocker along with my subconsciousness. Reincarnated souls? It sounded like something from a crappy B list horror movie. I laughed a little.

Hermes shook his head and sighed. "We're being serious right now , Natalie."

I cleared my throat to get rid of all the on coming giggles and erased my smile. "Sorry, continue."

He continued to stare me down. I noticed his eyes were a beautiful shade of green like the grass outside. They kind of made me dizzy if I stared too long.

"As I was saying, many of them live among average citizens, but they have certain qualities that set them aside from every one else, traits from their original states. Some of them are extremely beautiful, strong, or have an uncanny ability to control people."

I didn't know it was even possible, but he stared at me even more fiercely than before. He looked at my hand like he wanted to hold it, but stood still by the bed post. He looked back into my eyes.

"I am one of those souls , Natalie, and so are you."

I really wasn't shocked by his confession. Like that B list movie I saw it coming from the beginning of this whole conversation.

I started smiling again.

"I'm not joking." He said with a stern voice. His eyes reflected annoyance.

My smile evaporated as quickly as it came. What if he really was telling the truth? The dream was quickly turning into a frightening reality.

"My human in name is Ben Croff, but the name given to my immortal soul is Hermes. I am the god of thieves, merchants, and travelers. I am also the messenger of all the gods."

How many gods are there I wondered? There had to a lot for them to have their own messenger. Then my mind focused on another fact.

Hermes said I was like him. I had an immortal soul and I was a god? I was so confused , but I was nearly too afraid to ask the question that was on my mind. I sucked it up anyway.

"What does that make me?" I asked in a near whisper.

A part of his smile was brought back to him. He sighed.

"You,Natalie Hemmington, are Hera, wife and sister to the all powerful, Zeus, father of the gods and king of Olympus. Your are the one and only queen of Olympus."

I blinked a few times. My mind refused to process the information just given to me. I tried to dissect it. I'm Hera. Okay. I'm wife and sister to a guy named Zeus. WHAT?

If I had a drink then it would have gone all over Hermes in one huge spew right from my mouth.

Wife AND sister? EWWWW! The thought of incest made me want to barf everywhere. Ew! Ew! Ew!

Okay, Natalie! It's just a dream I reminded myself. I'll just wake my self up. I scanned the room again and saw a door , on the left side of the room, carved into the wall. I never noticed it before. Maybe it was my chance for escape.

I didn't waste a second. I scrambled across the bed to the other side and jumped off. I ran to the door.

"I wouldn't advise that!" Hermes yelled after me.

I ignored him. Freedom and reality were calling to me.

My hand found the handle and slung the door open with all the adrenaline inside me.

Then I continued to run.

.

_A/N I apologize for my month wait. This summer has been ten times busier than I anticipated. I went on a week long vacation , re- decorated my entire room and got a job! So yes I have been busy! :) I finished this a few days ago, and I was relying on my dear friend to look it over, but I haven't heard a peep out of her, So I decided to look it over myself. Hopefully it's still pretty good._

_To the kind reviewers:_

_genber0398: Thank you and I shall try my best. :)_

_Allysparks: Thanks for reviewing and I will!_

_Just a girl: Wow! All the way from Germany! I'm flattered! :) As for the my writing style I'd like to keep it pretty realistic. When I thought about this story and it's conflicts I asked myself how I would react to everything. I'm not going to talk and describe something using the biggest, fanciest words out there. I'm just going to tell you like is. As for the nick name it's the first thing that popped in my head and usually from the area I from we use more crude sounding nick names that sound less prettier than the original name. I don't know about every one else but that's how we roll! :)_

_Thank you to everyone who put this story in their favorites and and put a story alert on it! Thank you so so much to everyone who reacted this story! Did you like this chapter? Yes? No? As always leave me a review and tell me what you think!_


	3. Chapter 3

It had only been a few moments since I had escaped the room but for some odd reason I still hadn't woken up. Instead I was looking at an extremely long hallway in front of me. Unlike in the previous room the light seemed to burn . I wiped the back of my hand against my eyes to get rid of the tears that started to form. They burned worse than any of my allergy attacks tears. It wasn't pleasant at all.

I stumbled forward trying to walk further into the corridor and away from room I had exited so quickly, trying to put space between me and that crazy herpes guy.

I blinked a few times and my vision started to clear just long enough for me to see that there was a door at the end of this hall of torture. It was my perfect get away from. I started to awkwardly jog towards it as fat tears started to pour down my face.

I finally made it to the door. I blinked again and noticed it had a bright golden door knob with intricate patterns all over it. For a door knob it was actually kind of beautiful. Door knobs beautiful? Yep I had lost my mind. I would have continued to stare in awe wonder if I hadn't heard a voice from behind me.

"NATALIE!" It was Hermes's voice. I jerked my head back to make sure I wasn't being followed, but unfortunately I was.

Hermes stood all the way at the other end . He stared at me with a blank look. I couldn't tell if he was angry or not, and I wasn't going to stand around and wait for him to be.

I grabbed the door knob and pushed. Apparently I didn't push hard enough because the door hardly budged. I tried again. Nothing.

"Natalie, stop!" He yelled again.

My tears became tears of frustration. I pushed again and again, but the stupid door wouldn't move. It felt like I was pushing on a wall. I felt utterly embarrassed,

I looked back at Hermes. He was now walking closer towards me.

"Get away from me!" I warned as I started crying harder. In the back of my throat I felt that little hiccup you get right before you start bawling like a baby.

"Calm down Natalie! Just give me a chance to explain everything!"His voice was strangely soothing, and now he was close enough for me to see he was worried. No doubt my face was probably all scrunched up and I was doing my ugly cry. Ugh, could this get any worse?

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!" I managed to croak. Hermes was now half way across the room. It wouldn't take him long to reach me at this rate, plus I totally forgot that he had the most beautiful legs in the history of beautiful legs. My chance of escaping was evaporating and the probability of me waking up at this moment was not very good. He continued to walk towards me slowly. I had to think of something and fast. I blurted the first thing that came to my mind.

"TOUCH ME AND I'LL SCREAM RAPE, YOU CREEP!"

Out of the possible things I could say, my jacked up head just had to pick that. I has turned utterly insane.

Hermes stopped dead in his tracks. He was stunned for a moment , but only for a moment. Then his signature cocky smile came back to him.

"You wouldn't." He arched his eyebrows into a look of disbelief .The action made him look twenty times more handsome,like some classic bad boy from the fifties. Damn, he was fine.

I mentally slapped myself. His good looks couldn't stop me from getting the hell out of this place. I tried to put on a serious face to counter his charm.

I stopped my sobbing and gave him the deadliest glare I could.

"Try me." I challenged.

That wiped his smile clean off.

We stood there staring at each other waiting for the other to make their move. The slightest of moves would set us off, like wild animals. We waited to see who was the predator and who was the prey. I had an idea that I was the prey.

The gears in my head started to turn. Let's see how cunning the god of thieves can be a little voice said in the back of my head. I wanted to smile so badly but if I did it would have surely gave my bluff away. I kept an even poker face. I silently thanked my father for teaching me how to play the game when I was only eleven. I thought it was pointless to learn but my father assured me it would help later on in life. Thank the gods he was right.

I sighed and relaxed.

"Fine. You win."

Hermes sighed and relaxed with me.

I held back my evil smile.

"I'll let you take me back to the room and we can talk if you'll just answer one question for me."

His smile returned. It was nearly flirtatious. I wasn't going to swoon though, like I would have if I had been in my right mind. "And what question would that be?"

I cautiously backed closer into the door and tested the handle again. To my surprise it was loose this time and if luck would allow it, I could make my escape. I kept one had on the door as I asked my innocent, little question , complete with an innocent , little smile. "Can you catch me?"

I shoved my right shoulder and with a painful shove the door was abruptly open. Then I ran like the maniac I was turning into.

I didn't even know where I was going! All's I knew was that I felt amazing! My adrenaline level had spiked out of the roof! I felt like I was in some horror movie chase scene and Hermes was the psycho with the knife.

Everything about that thought was true , except the knife part and I wasn't exactly sure about that. Who knows, he could have had one hidden inside the many layers of tthat drapey, toga thing he was wearing.

I snapped out of thinking about Hermes's toga and tried to focus on running.

I considered myself a pretty good runner. I had long legs that could easily cover a large distance and from all my years of dancing I had a pretty good stamina too. So my chances of getting away from the crazy man following me were high. All's I had to was find a door out of here. I just hoped and prayed Hermes really wasn't as athletic as he appeared.

I ran down another long hallway , but this time I actually knew how to open the door. I continued to run for a while longer as I turned around dozens of corners and ran down thousands of halls. I had a feeling I had lost Hermes a long time ago, but I still wasn't taking any chances.

Suddenly, I turned a sharp corner and then BAM! I couldn't feel my legs anymore. My back was slammed against stone and every bit of air inside my lungs was knocked out. My head hit something with a thump.

God , did it hurt!

I looked up to find myself staring at a small group of stairs and the corner I had just turned. I looked down at my body to find it sprawled out at the bottom of the small stairs. I had fallen all the way down the steps. How graceful was I ?

I heard a loud crash.

I snapped my head towards the direction it had come from and sat up from the fall. A small little woman was staring at me with her mouth hanging open. At her feet a little golden tray was flipped over backwards with a matching bowl and two cups and several different kinds of fruit

scattered everywhere.

I had probably scared her. Hell, I scared myself.

I attempted to stand up but I abruptly became quite nauseous. Dark onyx circles danced before my eyes. I reached out for the wall to hold myself up. It became difficult to breathe. It was like there were hands wrapped around my lungs and every time they clenched I couldn't breathe. The onyx turned to ruby red.

Breathe Natalie, breathe.

My mind felt like it was a thousand miles away. I could still hear my thoughts, but only faintly now.

My head began to pound and pulsate with the rhythm of my struggling heart. My right hand instinctively reached out to touch my forehead. I held it there for a only a moment , but it when I took my hand away it was covered in a warm crimson.

At first I didn't comprehend what was going on and I just thought it was my sudden crappy vision projecting red onto my hand, but then I realized why my hand would be so warm.

I was bleeding. I was bleeding hard.

I couldn't believe it. I had never bled like this before, yet here I was with my hand cover in the stuff.

More than likely I probably fell on my head when I took a tumble down the stairs. They weren't even large stairs though! Then I remembered one of my observations from earlier. This place seemed to be made entirely of stone. It isn't very hard to break your skull on stone.

I should have started to freak out but instead I just sat there on the floor staring at my blood covered hand, eerily calm. So calm that my vision began to clear in only a few seconds and my nausea went away. Strange I thought.

I heard a little hiss. I looked up to see the woman watching me. Her skin had an olive color to it and her eyes were gray. It was a strange combination.

I followed her eyes and saw that she was staring right at my bloody hand.

Her eyes were wide like a little rabbit's and she was frozen in place. She looked extremely panicked, so panicked I thought if I moved again she would run away like the bunny she appeared to be.

But why wasn't she helping me?!

Here I was with probably a fractured skull and a hand soaked in my own blood. I sort of needed some physical assistance!

She continued to stare at my hand and I continued to stare at her, waiting for her to snap.

Finally, she shook her head and the panicked look was gone.

The woman carefully walked over to me and knelt down on the floor. We were face to face. She was about as tall as me sitting.

Her extremely,curly,raven black hair was falling just inches from my face. I continued to think how strange her features were. Super curly black hair, olive skin, eyes so gray that they were almost white.

She reached out timidly with one hand, to touch my head.

The palm of her hand had barely touched the skin when the woman jerked her hand away with a cry so loud it was nearly a scream.

I jumped about ten feet in the air when she did so. I watched her cradle the hand she touched me with. Now I looked like the scared little bunny.

My eyes were wide as I watched her shoulders shake with sobs. It must have hurt pretty badly.

For a good little second I debated on whether to comfort her or not. Finally, I reached out , to the best of my ability and took her palm.

What I saw was one of the most disturbing things that I had ever seen in my life. Etched into the palm of her hand was the image of a lighting bolt. It was long and thin, and the branches spread out towards her wrist and intertwined with blue veins that were already there. That was not the sick part though. The sick part was that it looked as if it were cut into her skin. Familiar crimson overflowed onto the unwounded skin until nearly the entire hand was covered just as mine own was. What was even worse was the smell. It was the smell of fresh, salty, overwhelming blood, and it was right in my face.

I resisted the urge to gag.

I looked at the woman's face again. Her face was pale and her lip was shaking with her sniveling. She looked like a little kid. I genuinely felt bad for her.

Now it was my turn to help. I looked around for something to soak up the blood , but found nothing. Then a little light bulb went off in my head. I look down to my clothes. I was still in this ridiculous dress. No fabric could be spared from the torso so I shifted my knees and brought forth the end of the garment. With as much strength as I could I attempted to tear the fabric.

Attempted that is. I had no luck in actually ripping it though. It was too strong for me.

I looked back at the sniffling face of the poor little woman. She stared at me , clearly puzzled. Her hand was still bleeding.

I looked again at the dress. There was only one other option.

I grabbed her wrist and brought it down right in the middle of my dress on my thigh. She gasped with surprise and tried to move it away from the cloth, but I was firm and didn't let go.

There was silence as I continued to press her hand down. When I decided enough time had gone by I let go. The woman was still silent , but her composure broke when she saw the giant stain that showed her hand's previous presence there.

After that it became a blur. The woman started to go off in some strange language that I didn't even have a clue was. Then, she stood up and started to back away from me, still sobbing/yelling/mumbling in the same crazy language. The next thing I know , she takes off running down the way she came and I was left sitting on the stairs with a soiled, ruined dress.

This definitely tops my list of weirdest dreams, I thought.

I was dumbstruck for a moment or two when I finally stood up. My strength was miraculously restored to me. I looked over to the mess of forgotten dishes and scattered fruit.

Not knowing what to do, I just started to walk in the direction that odd little woman went. Maybe I could find her and apologize to her for whatever distress I had caused her.

I could still smell her blood, probably because it was all over my dress and probably all over my face. The smell didn't bother me though.

I continued to walk for what seemed like ages without absolutely no disturbances. I didn't even have to open any doors or see any more crazy servants. Speaking of crazy, Hermes still hadn't found me yet. Surely if this was real life, and he was a god he would have found me by now, but this is a dream, I reminded myself. A very bizarre, peculiar dream.

I went down another flight of stairs. These were much bigger than the last and I had learned my lesson with stairs. Therefore, I took much care in walking down them,and stuck close to the wall.

At the bottom of the stairs was a massive room. It was wide and open and its overall shape seemed to be in a hexagon. Sunlight poured in from the grand glass ceiling. On the walls there were magnificent mosaic murals depicting fierce battles, raging natural disasters, and divine looking figures being worshiped. I felt like I was standing in one of those ancient cathedrals. Words can not express the feelings which I felt. For some reason I felt a deep feeling of euphoria. This place was perfect.

My feet guided me over to each mural and I took it all in.

Each picture was flawless and beautiful in its own way. Even the pictures depicting gory wars had their own appeal about them. There was one though that got my attention the most though. It showed a colossal golden tree with apples hanging in its branches. Below the tree, there was angelic looking woman standing next to an equally powerful man . Their hands held each other and they were dressed in white. They each had a sort of half smile on their faces. Standing next to each other they looked oddly similar with their dark hair and what appeared to be gray eyes. They were as gray as storm clouds...

A memory of a previous dream stirred inside my mind. Visions of falling resurfaced. I pushed the dream back and tried to shake the scary feeling away.

Suddenly my cathedral felt tight and crowded and I couldn't stand being in here much longer.

I quickly walked down another hallway and then another and another, just trying to put space in between me and that haunting image. That is when I heard it. The one sound that could confirm my worst fear. It was low at first and I should have just forgotten about and walked somewhere else, but there was something inside of me that just had to found out where it was coming from. I had to know, I had to be confirmed. I had to see it. I just had to. I convinced myself I needed this. Life would not go on if I could not found out where the sound was coming from.

My ears were tuned into the words and told my brain where to go. My feet obeyed the commands of my brain.

A foggy daze settled out over me. I turned what seemed likes thousands of corners, and each time the sound became louder and louder. My heart beat louder and louder as I drew closer. Then, finally I turned one last corner and I heard it perfectly. Each syllable, each breath, everything, I heard it. It was the voice that was always present in my dreams. It was the voice that always lingered there in thoughts long after I had woken up. It was his voice. It was the man's voice.

There was a cracked door near the end of the hallway. I knew he was in there. He had to be in there. Every instinct told me so.

My footsteps were soft now and with every slow step I made my way closer to the door. A part of me was terrified of what I would find behind that door , and the other part of me was anticipating it.

I leaned into the wall and stopped just before the entrance.

I realized he was having a conversation with someone.

"It must be done brother. There is no other way of assuring our survival." The voice said.

"But, why her? There are plenty of others that could replace her." The second voice said. He was not familiar to me.

"You and I both know that our sister can not be replaced with such ease." The man's voice was calm but I could hear a hint of annoyance.

I stepped towards the crack slowly.

I had to see him. I was going to see him.

There conversation continued, but I could only focus on straining my eyes for even a glance at him. My face was a few inches away from the door. I could practically touch it I saw a little bit of black hair. I was so close.

I was about to take another step forward when suddenly a hand slammed down over my mouth. I didn't even have the chance to scream. My body tried to attack my ambusher, but a groggy feeling washed over me.

My eyes became heavy and I started to go limp.

I feel unconscious to a smooth, mocking, voice in my ears, that whispered, "I win."

_A/N: It's been about three months since I've posted. I'm ashamed of myself! It's okay if you are too! Yet again I didn't have anyone to read over this, but my lonesome self cause I was too desperate to publish it. Maybe you'll enjoy it! If you are confused about anything , just ask! And please review! It means the world to me! Thanks!_


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as the familiar stranger's hand had touched my mouth, I fell into a strange unconsciousness. Visions greeted me after moments of dark sleep. They were like the dreams I had so many times before. I was in massive room with people surrounding me everywhere I turned. The air was warm, and humid. It smelt vaguely likely oranges . Odd music played in the background with a heavy drum keeping rhythm. Like the past visions, I could make out everything around me with a strange precision. It felt like I was in my own body instead of having that bizarre out of body experience like in most dreams. I walked through a large crowd full of odd looking creatures. Some looked like normal human beings, while others looked strange and alien. There was a woman with pale blue skin and emerald green eyes , a man that had a horse's butt, and a guy who had about a hundred and one arms. I would have taken a double take at the last being if I were in control , but instead my dream self continued on its way.  
Dream me finally stopped to lean against some pillar on the other side of the room and began to gaze over the mix of individuals once more. My dream self remained alone for only a few moments when a voice addressed us or ,well, me. "Such a beauty like you with no one to converse with?Surely my eyes fool me." I could feel a smile spread across my lips as a man stepped out of the shadows to stand next to me. My stomach lurched forward and began to fill with butterflies. My heart rate jumped a little. I knew this voice too well. It had haunted me for months now, filling my dreams with its almost relaxing sound. Dream me knew him too. Every time I had these dreams, I always got this weird feeling in the back of my mind that I had always known this man, yet my waking self could not produce a name. I remained calm and turned to face him. He was about a head taller than me and features were well defined with a powerful , square jawline and hair that was black as coal falling in small curls around his face. In the midst of his dark features there was a set of hypnotizing gray eyes. I had seen them a million times.  
"Perhaps I do not wish to_ converse._" I retorted coolly with a whisper of a grin hanging on my lips.  
The man raised a thick eye brow. "Nearly every species in existence is standing inside this very room and you can not find at least one who interests you enough to talk to? Ridiculous."  
"It's not that I don't find them interesting, I simply don't want to put forth the effort of making words come out of my mouth. Besides, they're here for your victory, not mine."I had turned away from him at this time to continue watching the peculiar spectacle that seemed to be a party  
"I am not the only one who overcame those tyrants." His voice was no longer playful as before. The conversation became suddenly serious with the brief mention of his success against some opposing force.  
"But you were the only one who had enough courage to stand up to them." I said turning back to him. My tone turned as serious as his. The man frowned, and a strange look came into his storm cloud, gray eyes. A harsh silence fell between us. I quickly averted my eyes back to the party. My breathing became ragged for a moment. A surge of paranoia rushed into my mind. I could feel his eyes on the softness of my neck, creeping their way slowly onto my face. Undoubtedly, Somewhere deep inside me, I was afraid.  
And undoubtedly he knew it. "I unnerve you, don't I?  
My lips stayed put. No words escaped from my mouth. With all my might, I tried to ignore him.  
"Answer me." His voice became stern .For a moment, it gave a glimpse of what power he had.  
Breathing became a harder task. I still tried in vain to ignore him, as my eyes darted frantically around the room  
"Hera."  
As soon as the name was released from his tongue, my stone walls came tumbling down. Once again I turned to him.  
"What?" I said with not a little annoyance.  
His clouds captured me. The man leaned in closer. "You're afraid of me, aren't you? " His voice was gentle this time, but the shadow of his height , and closeness to me played across my face and upset me worse.  
Tears began to blur my eyes. Honestly, I didn't what was going on at this point. The intense surge of irrational emotions confused me. I really couldn't figure out what dream me was doing or why!  
The man immediately noticed the water forming in my eyes and took my wrist and started leading me into the shadows behind the looming columns. From there he found a door in to a nearby hallway. Poor dream me was still crying, as we were led into a small dark room, where only a few candles were lit. The man closed the door behind us and ushered dream me into a seat near one of the lights. He remained standing and stared at me.  
"If I have offended or frightened you in any way, then I beg for your forgiveness. Just allow me to know how ."  
Tears started to roll down my face more steadily. That odd feeling of a sob came rolling up into my throat .I managed to swallow it again. I took a deep breath.  
" I am not afraid of you, brother ."  
The room was horribly lit, but I could still make up the outline of his dark features displaying obvious confusion.  
"Then what fear is this that drives you to such tears."  
My chest tightened as I struggled against another wave of sobbing. A threat resurfaced into my consciousness. " Stay away from him, Hera! If you even utter another word to him, even look in his direction, he could fantasize an image that is far from the truth."  
A breath of frustration rolled out. Instinctively a hand covered our eyes. Tears were no longer held back. "I am angry. Angry because every voice tells me to hold everything I feel inside of me. Angry because they all tell me that the one being who could possibly empathize with me- the one being who could be my true antidote-is only my true poison!"  
The man was quiet. Minutes passed as the sound of my words echoed into the air. I continued to sob as quietly as I could, trying to hold what little possible back.  
"It was Demeter, wasn't it?" He finally said after a few more moments.  
My dream self was taken back. "How did you-?"  
"Ever since that day after the war, she's been acting strange with me. There have been times when I try to communicate with her, but all I see is that look of fear and distrust, much like you had moments ago. What did she tell you?"  
I though about it for a moment. "She told me... She told me I had to be careful around you now, since you might become king."  
More silence encompassed us.  
The man had turned as silent and unmoving as stone.  
Fear tickled the hairs on the back of my neck. I swallowed and continued to wait for his response.  
Finally, " My own sisters do not trust me , and my brothers would curse my name for all eternity if I ruled. What kind of life have the Fates dealt me?"  
I released a breath and stood from my seat. I now stood next to his stressed figure. "If it's any consolation brother, I trust you." Unconsciously, my hand reached for his.  
The man turned to face me as he accepted my hand. He smiled gently. "Perhaps we're not alone then." He nearly whispered as his hand reached out for the smoothness of my cheek.

I awoke with a start into yet another bed. Around me, purple sheets were tightly tucked. On my forehead, drops of sweat were forming. I felt like I had just sat in a crowded sauna for hours . I was exhausted and covered in sweat not only on my forehead, but in places where the sun was not likely to shine.  
Awkwardly, I kicked off the suffocating, cotton sheets and stretched my arms out against the mattress.  
My arms felt weighed down with heat while my legs now finally felt cool. I looked down at my legs. I had my favorite pair of girl boxers on. No wonder they were cool. I brought my arm up to my face. A long gray, heavy sleeve clung to it. Then with a suspicion in my head, I looked down at my chest to the bright neon letters that read "Sparkle and Shine Dance Academy." I nearly screamed with pure and utter joy at the sight of my old hoodie. I was back home!  
Back in my regular pajamas and my my giant comfy bed and away from those crazy dreams. I felt like Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz when she wakes up and realizes Oz was just a vision induced by getting her head nearly knocked off.  
Unlike Dorothy though, my family was nowhere to be found.  
My eyes began to finally notice my true surroundings. The bed was not mine (even though I do have purple sheets), the straight-back chair that sat lonely in the corner was not mine, and the room itself was definitely not mine. It seemed like the only thing that was mine were the clothes I now wore. My hopes were shattered.  
Memories came rushing back to me. The lighting, the room, the herpes guy, running, blood, and the man's voice. They all came back to me as clear as crystal.  
Without hesitation, I drew in a deep breath and screamed as hard as I could. I didn't stop either, until the door suddenly opened and that Hermes guy came running in.  
"Hera!" He yelled in an almost panicked tone of voice.  
My mouth shut almost automatically. I stared at his face taking in his features once more as my mind came to a frightening realization. My hands began to shake and I could not catch my breath for long. Fiery tears burned in my eyes and threatened to stream down my face.  
With a shaking voice I asked "This isn't a dream, is it?"  
The same worried look remained still on his face as he watched me struggle with my thoughts. He carefully walked closer to me. It was like he was waiting for me to snap.  
He stood over me now. "Why do you ask?"  
My chest rose and fell rapidly. Like in the dream, a sob rose up in my throat. "Because," I swallowed it back, "I had another dream, a dream about that man in the room."  
Now he was shocked. His eyes turned wide. With a breath he whispered, "Zeus."  
He shook his head and returned to his previous expression. "You said you had another one of these dreams, how many have you had?"  
I calmed a little. The overwhelming feeling of pure panic receded. "Too many to remember."  
Hermes continued his interrogation. His brows furrowed in concentration. "And in each dream you've seen him?"  
I was almost fully calm now. I thought for a moment. "Yes, in every dream I've had for the past few months, he's been there."  
"And these dreams, these dreams made you feel like you've been in a certain place, or witnessed a certain event before?"  
I was stunned. "How did you-?"  
He cursed under his breath and began to pace the space in front of me.  
I watched in silence and wondered what the hell was going on.  
"So, I'm not in a dream ." I tried to ask again. I wanted a legitimate answer this time. I wanted a sure clarity.  
Hermes stopped his pacing and froze to stare at the wall before him. "No, this is not a dream. " His voice was ice cold and emotionless. "And unfortunately, things aren't going to be as easy for you as I would have hoped."  
He turned back to me with a grim expression and uttered in the same emotionless voice "You, my dear, have a lot to learn."

.

A/N: (Gasps) I actually updated! I know it's a surprise for me too. This chapter, despite its size has probably been one of the most difficult chapters to write. Only God knows how many times I have went back and re-edited. I'm determined to finish this story though, one way or another. I would like to specially thank my friend IrregularAllison for helping me actually finish this chapter. I'll probably ask for more so be prepared! :D Questions? Just ask? And what ever you do please review. Seeing a review notification in my in-box makes my day! So, "Go ahead, and make my day." P.S. Sorry for the seemingly annoying font and lack of spaces. I don't know if it's the program I used to type it up in or just me.


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